DSL CHAMPIONS: BHS girls swim wins 15th straight title

Saturday

May 3, 2014 at 4:00 PM

RIDGECREST — The Desert Sky League championship came down to the last race of the regular season for the Burroughs girls swim team — and the Burros delivered to continue a decade and a half of dominance. Burroughs beat Granite Hills 88-82 on Wednesday at Pinney Pool to win a 15th consecutive league title.

By Anthony GentileSPORTS EDITORagentile@ridgecrestca.com

RIDGECREST — The Desert Sky League championship came down to the last race of the regular season for the Burroughs girls swim team — and the Burros delivered to continue a decade and a half of dominance. Burroughs beat Granite Hills 88-82 on Wednesday at Pinney Pool to win a 15th consecutive league title.“It shows that all the hard work they’ve been putting in has been worth it — I’m really happy with the way the girls performed today,” Burros head coach Dora Barnes said. “It was a really, really good day for these girls — they put together some pretty amazing swims.” Burroughs (6-0, 3-0 DSL) won only two of the 11 events in Wednesday’s dual meet between DSL unbeatens — but its depth made the difference in a closely contested contest. Every Burros swimmer that competed in an event earned points to help secure the victory.“I knew we would have to go two-three-four a lot — go for the middle and try to crowd out their swimmers,” Barnes said. “I think we did a really good job of that.”One of the most critical results of the meet came in its first event. Burroughs won the 200 medley relay with one of its best swims of the season — the team of Kayla Herrera, Cindel Barnes, Rebecca Williams and Sophie Hoffman turned in a CIF automatic swim of 1:57.14.“We really shocked them in that medley relay,” Barnes said. “It helped put us in the right mindset and believe that we could take them down.”That swim earned the Burros’ first CIF automatic time of the season, and was a six-second improvement from the team’s previous best relay time. The BHS team of Mallory McDaniel, Sara Meehan, Madelene Perez and Ashley Bloomberg finished third in the event with a CIF consideration swim of 2:10.24 to give Burroughs a 10-4 lead after the first event.Burroughs extended that lead to eight points by finishing two-three-four in the 200 freestyle behind Granite Hills’ Robin Smallwood. Ashley Flatman took second with a CIF consideration swim of 2:10.41, McDaniel placed third with a CIF consideration swim of 2:11.07 and Daniele Jimenez finished in fourth by swimming a 2:30.35.Hoffmann was Burroughs’ top finisher in the 200 individual medley, swimming a CIF consideration time of 2:19.96 to finish behind the Cougars’ Raina Bell. Bloomberg came in fourth with a swim of 2:32.50 and Leah Ostermann placed fifth by swimming a 2:50.12 — the Burros’ lead shrank to 26-20 after that event. Burroughs’ only victory in an individual event came courtesy of Aliya Halterman, who won the 50 freestyle with a CIF consideration swim of 26.32. Herrera took third with a swim of 27.58 and Costanzo placed fifth by swimming a 28.36 — Halterman’s first-place finish helped the Burros take a 10-point lead.“I know it was a shock for Aliya to get that win in the 50 free — that was not one I was expecting,” Barnes said. “She definitely turned it on — to pull that off with everything she has been going through was really good. Aliya has had it in her, but she needed somebody to push her to get it.” The Burros dropped two points in the 100 butterfly, led by a second-place finish from Williams — she turned in a CIF consideration swim of 1:02.15. Perez finished fourth with a swim of 1:18.28 and Ostermann took fifth by swimming a 1:21.44.In the 100 freestyle, Halterman delivered Burroughs’ first CIF automatic swim in an individual event this season. She finished second with a swim of 56.60.Herrera placed third in the 100 freestyle with a time 1:00.43 and Costanzo took fifth by swimming a 1:04.58. The Burros and Cougars each scored eight points in the event to keep BHS in front by eight.A two-three-four finish for Burroughs in the 500 freestyle extended its lead to 60-50. Flatman (5:53.02) and McDaniel (5:58.93) had CIF consideration swims in the event, and Bloomberg finished fourth with a time of 6:07.92.Burroughs finished in second and third with a pair of CIF consideration swims in the 200 freestyle relay, allowing the Cougars to pull within eight points. The Burros’ team of Bloomberg, Barnes, McDaniel and Halterman took second with a swim of 1:50.81 and the quartet of Costanzo, Breana Davis, Meehan and Flatman finished third by swimming a 1:54.40.In the 100 backstroke, Williams (1:05.11) and Hoffmann (1:06.05) turned in CIF consideration swims to finish behind Granite Hills’ Crystal Ortega. Jordyn Rivers placed fifth in the event by swimming a 1:14.49.Barnes led the way for Burroughs in the 100 breaststroke, finishing second behind Granite Hills’ Alexis Webb with a CIF consideration swim of 1:17.47. Meehan took third with a time of 1:22.39 and Leah Bayer placed fifth by swimming a 1:31.71.Burroughs and Granite Hills matched one another in points in the two events leading up to the 400 freestyle relay, setting the stage for a dramatic finale. The Burros needed at least a second-place finish to win the meet and the league championship.The BHS team of Williams, Herrera, Hoffmann and Halterman delivered the meet-winning result with a CIF automatic swim of 2:52.23 to finish just more than two-tenths of a second behind the Cougars. On the anchor leg, Halterman kept up with Smallwood by producing one of her best swims of the season.“That 400 free relay was more of a race than they bargained for,” Barnes said.The Burros’ team of Costanzo, Davis, Ostermann and Flatman placed third in the event with a CIF consideration swim of 4:17.52. Burroughs never led by more than 10 and won the meet by six points — by far its closest competition of the season.With the victory, Burroughs captured the DSL championship for the 15th straight season. The Burros have secured at least a share of the league title, and can win it outright by taking the league finals next week.“For the seniors that have been here through it all, it’s a nice way to wrap up their senior year and the four years that they’ve put in,” Barnes said. “The ones that have been around are really excited to have that 15th title.“Sometimes I don’t think they truly understand the impact that makes — how many people that really is and how far back that goes. It’s a pretty amazing feat.” Burroughs returns to action next Wednesday in the DSL finals at Apple Valley. In that meet, the top 16 overall entries from the four league teams will compete in two heats.“We have more great swims coming out of these girls,” Barnes said. “Next week will be another challenge.”